


A Construct of Realism

by fiatjustitia



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-21 00:58:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6032383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiatjustitia/pseuds/fiatjustitia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura starts grad school with the conviction that knowledge is power and that power can be used to help save the world.   In the process she runs into someone who doesn't share her opinion of the world or human nature.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Laura sat down and checked her watch. She was the only one in the classroom. Her watch indicated she was 20 min early for class, but it was her first day of grad school and she hadn’t wanted to be late for class. She was still a little lost when it came to navigating around campus. She pulled out her notebook and a pen. Using her computer, she double-checked her class schedule to make sure she was in the correct classroom. She didn’t really expect anyone else to be here yet, but no one else being in the room made her a little bit nervous that maybe she was in the wrong place. Slowly the other students began trickling into the classroom.  
“Hello, how is everyone doing?” the question was posed by a man in his late thirties who had just walked into the classroom.  
The students let out a grumbled “good” as the professor sat down in the front of the classroom. He pulled out a stack of syllabi and started passing them around.  
“Alright so for today, I thought I would introduce myself, then we would go around the room before we get into the syllabus. We are going to go over a little bit of material today…” a collective groan rippled through the class. “but we aren’t going to do much and you should still get out early.”  
The professor had started introducing himself as the syllabi reached Laura. She picked one, passing the rest on and started glancing through it.  
Listening out of one ear, she discovered her professor’s training in grand theory was pretty impressive. He had studied under scholars who had trained directly underneath Waltz and Keohane. She found she wasn’t as interested in his research interests however. Security was not her forte.  
After introducing himself, the professor had the students go around the room and introduce themselves. They were on the fourth person when the door to the room started to open. Laura made a face because who the hell shows up fifteen minutes late to the first day of class! In grad school! The class had started at 12:30 too so it’s not like it was even early! Ugh!   
Laura lost her train of thought as soon as the girl walked in though because wow she was attractive. Her raven hair fell just below her shoulders with a slight curl in it. Her face looked like it had been chiseled by the gods themselves. Plus, she was wearing leather pants. Laura had no idea what kind of person wears leather pants to a grad class but right now she wasn’t sure she cared.   
However, she regained her ranting train of thought when the girl opened her mouth. The girl muttered a soft sorry in a tone that indicated she probably didn’t care at all. She walked around the tables until she got to an empty seat before proceeding to slouch down in the seat and kick her feet up on the chair next to her. Laura felt herself make a face again because man this girl was rude.  
The professor briefly described to the new girl the questions that they were answering to introduce themselves and they went back to the introductions. Soon it was Laura’s turn. She sat up a bit straighter in her chair and a huge smile spread over her face.  
“Hi everyone. My name is Laura Hollis. I am originally from Toronto, Canada, but I did my undergrad at Denison, a small liberal arts college in Ohio. My research interest is human rights, especially whether or not human rights trials actually dissuade people from committing human rights abuses in the future.”  
Before long the only person left to introduce herself was the girl who was late to class. She sighed and began.  
“Carmilla Karenstein. I’m from Gratz, Austria. My undergrad is from Justus-Liebig University Giessen. My Masters is from the University of Chicago. My research is about resource scarcity as a cause for inter- and intra-state war.” Her tone was indifferent and it sounded like she was trying to say as few words as possible.   
The rest of the class passed quickly. After they went through the syllabus, they had a short discussion and got out early. Laura was finishing packing up her computer and notebook. She saw the late girl…Carmilla,walk to the door (Laura wasn’t watching her…she wasn’t). She went to throw something away and it missed the trashcan but she just kept walking.  
“Um...excuse me.” Laura piped up. “Are you just going to leave that there?”  
“Leave what where cupcake?” Carmilla responded, lifting one perfectly sculpted eyebrow.  
“The piece of trash you just threw away. It landed on the floor. And my name is LAURA” she said through gritted teeth. Laura scrunched up her face in anger for the third time in the past hour and a half.  
Carmilla simply lifted one eyebrow and shrugged before walking out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura realizes showing up late isn't the only way Carmilla is going to drive her crazy before the end of the semester.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right now i have outlined 10 chapters but that may change. I am finding that things I think will make it in don't and that things I don't think will be entirely relevant are becoming more so.

The next day Laura munched on a cookie as she looked at the clock on her computer. Her class was a night class so she didn’t really need to leave until about 4:30 but after only one class, she already had a lot of reading for next week. She sighed and decided to stop binge rewatching Dr. Who in favor of going to the grad lounge to do some reading for next week. She was perfectly aware that she wasn’t going to get much done in her apartment.  
When she got on campus and into the grad lounge she decided to work in one of the smaller rooms with desks rather than the open common area where people were talking and eating. The moment she walked into the room she knew she chose wrong. There, in the middle of the room, sprawled out across all of the desk chairs, fast asleep, was Carmilla.  
“What the frilly hell is this? Why are you asleep in the middle of a study room?! Also, do you really need to take up all the chairs?”  
Carmilla began to stir. She lifted up her head and groaned.  
“Cupcake, why are you making so much noise so early?”  
“Early! Its 2:30! In the afternoon!”  
“Like I said, cutie, early. Besides there are plenty of other places to study on this campus. You didn’t have to choose this one.” Carmilla spit back, her voice full of venom.  
For a second Laura seriously considered just finding another room to study in, but the thought of giving in to this girl made Laura bristle. She huffed at Carmilla’s response and proceeded to steal one of the chairs that was under Carmilla’s legs. She pulled it up to a desk, pulled out her computer, and put her headphones on. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to focus on her reading if she actually put on music, but she hoped having headphones in would dissuade further communication with Carmilla. However, before she turned her computer on, she noticed in the reflection that Carmilla had merely shifted on the remaining chairs and gone back to sleep.  
_________________  
By the time Laura’s class had ended, her anger over Carmilla’s behavior hadn’t abated at all. The girl had eventually gotten up about an hour and a half later. After getting up, Carmilla had somehow managed to make a lot of noise without even bothering to put the chairs back where they belonged.  
Laura stalked backed into her apartment and slammed her keys down.  
“Whoa, Laur, what contaminated your control samples?” her roommate Lafontaine asked. Laura had met and roomed with Lafontaine in undergrad and when they both got accepted and decided to go to the same university for grad school, they had agreed rent an apartment together. Laf was a Ph.D. student in immunology.  
“Remember I told you about the girl in my class yesterday who showed up late for class?”  
“Um…yeah. Are you still upset about that?”  
“Oh no. Today she was using the grad lounge as a hotel and was using all of the chairs in one of the study rooms to sleep on. I swear to god it’s like she has no regard for anyone else but herself!”  
Laf just chuckled. “Doesn’t your grad lounge have multiple study rooms? Why didn’t you just move to another one?”  
Despite the question, Lafontaine wasn’t really surprised. They had known Laura long enough to know that she was too stubborn to have left once she had chosen that room.  
“It’s the principle of the matter! It’s a study room! People should be able to study in there!” Laura argued back.  
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Laf conceded, knowing better than to let Laura go on a full rant. “Look, just try to ignore her in the future. I mean I get that she is in the wrong here, but maybe for your sanity just try to avoid future confrontation.”  
Laura sighed, plopping down onto a chair at the kitchen table and letting her head fall onto her hands. “You’re right Laf.”  
Laf looked over at a dejected Laura. They knew she wouldn’t let go of a perceived injustice so easily but knew what would both distract her and cheer her up.  
“Perry baked some cookies before she left for work. They’re your favorite.”  
“Kitchen sink cookies?” Laura’s head popped up and a giant smile spread across her face.  
Laf couldn’t hold back laughing at her response. “Yep”  
Laura jumped out of her chair and ran into the kitchen. Perry’s cookies were sinfully delicious. As the name suggested they had everything but the kitchen sink: chocolate and white chocolate chips, toffee pieces, and if you wanted them pecans.  
“Hey still up for Friday night?” Laf asked. “Perry is really looking forward to it and wants us there.”  
“Of course! I mean I know my usual diet is made up of polysyllabic chemicals, but there is no way I’m going to pass up the opportunity for a special five course tasting menu by a James Beard Award winning chef, especially when Perry is the sous chef and it’s a benefit for Human Rights Watch.”  
Three years ago Laura would not have been able to form that sentence, but through Lafontaine, Laura had met Perry. Those two had been friends since they were little kids. By the time they got to high school, everyone just assumed they would go to the same college. However, Laf had fallen in love with Denison and Perry refused to be the reason they didn’t go to the college they wanted. Perry, for her part, had known that she wanted to go to the Culinary Institute of America and Laf wouldn’t have pulled Perry away from her dreams. It had been problematic at first but between Skype, traveling during school breaks, and Laf making a friend when she met Laura, they had both managed to thrive in their respective circumstances. Laf and Perry managed to communicate to the point that sometimes Laura forgot that Perry didn’t even go to the same school, let alone lived in another state. Laura knew she partially had Perry to thank for Laf going to the same grad school. Laf had been highly influenced by Perry getting the offer for her current job. Now the three of them shared a crappy apartment on the edges of a very big city.  
Laura looked over at Laf and saw the pride in their eyes that was always there when they thought of Perry and the success she had attained thus far as a chef. Laura sighed internally. She loved living with Laf and Perry but sometimes she couldn’t help being jealous at the connection the two of them had.  
Just as Laura was about to reach for another cookie, her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. “Shit!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I do realize in the show that Carmilla is the one who said "What in the frilly hell is this" however it seemed appropriate for Laura to say in this situation. Sorry if that bothers anyone. 
> 
> Also, I have my own personal experience to draw on for graduate school in political science/international relations, and have someone i am consulting on grad school in the biological sciences but I do not have as much background in the process of development in the culinary world. I apologize if that is inaccurate.
> 
> Hope you all liked chapter 2.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Friday night and Laura is going to a fancy dinner at the restaurant Perry works, but someone unexpected shows up. She seeks refuge in her studies but the grad lounge also has an unwelcome guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say a quick thank you to the people who have been reading this! 
> 
> Just kind of a side note, I have read at least excerpts from all of the books I will mention. As a grad student you do have to read theorists you don't agree with. That being said all of the books that I, thus far, have planned to have Carmilla read have a more pessimistic outlook on the world.

Laura had been ignoring her phone for the past three days. Now as she was trying to read, her phone blared, breaking the silence in the still room.  
“God damn it, this is supposed to be a study room not a phone booth!” Carmilla growled behind her.  
“It’s not your bedroom either!” Laura snapped back, not in the mood to put up with Carmilla’s snark today.  
Despite what she had told Laf, there was no way in Hell or Hogwarts she was backing down. So she and Carmilla had developed a routine of sorts. Laura showed up every day and stole a chair Carmilla was sleeping on and then tried not to strangle her when she finally woke up.  
“And you’re not one to talk. The noise you make basically wakes the dead along with you.”  
“Yeah, well, I only wake up once a day, buttercup. Your phone has gone off five times in the last hour alone.” Carmilla quipped back. “Can’t you just turn the damn thing on silent?”  
“No I can’t” Laura responded shortly. She didn’t really feel like explaining that she didn’t need the cops barging into her apartment thinking she was being held hostage or lying dead on the floor if she missed one of her father’s phone calls (…again.)  
________________

At exactly 6:30 on the dot, Laura walked into Le Monde Moderne wearing a little black dress that hugged her curves perfectly. Next to her, Lafontaine was dressed expertly in a light tweed vest over a light blue button up with an orange bow tie with blue and green checkered accents. They approached the hostess. Laf gave their names and she led them toward their table for the evening. They were halfway to their table when Laura stopped dead in her tracks. Laf, who had been trailing behind her sneaking glances into the kitchen trying to find Perry, ran full force into her back.  
“Laur, seriously?...oh.”  
Laura, who was fully aware that the only two redheads she cared to see right now were out of her line of sight, was not happy to see a long flowing mane of sunset red hair sitting at the table they were being led to. If the woman hadn’t been sitting, Laura would have noticed her much sooner, but then Laura probably wouldn’t have made it more than a step past the greeting podium. She stood there frozen for a fraction of a second, wondering if she could get away with turning and bolting out the door. Her mind was made up for her when the woman lifted her head and noticed Laura. Upon seeing Laura, a smile spread across the woman’s face as a matter of habit. Laura’s feet began working before her mind did as she started walking forward again. When she got to the table, she attempted to smile, but it was a useless attempt and came out as more of a grimace.  
“Danny, I didn’t realize you were going to be here.”  
“Well, you would if you answered your phone.” Danny replied acerbically, the smile dropping from her face.  
Laura looked down at her hands that she was wringing uncomfortably.  
“Danny…I just…I couldn’t…”  
“Yeah,” Danny said, cutting her off and looking away.  
Lafontaine for their part had spent the entirety of the short conversation glaring at Danny. Despite Laura’s former relationship and Perry developing a friendship with Danny, Laf had never really liked Danny. She had always rubbed Laf the wrong way. Luckily, the waiter happened to show up at that moment to deliver the first course. Laf’s face immediately shifted from a scowl to a proud smile. The waiter was about to give a short description of the dish but before he could, Laf jumped in.  
“Oh, this is the dish that Perry designed. It’s seared Ahi tuna with a wasabi and soy bean puree, fried seaweed strips, and a miso soy ginger glaze drizzled over the top.” Laf explained, the pride in their girlfriend rolling off of them.  
With the arrival of the first course, the beginnings of the argument between Danny and Laura died down and the tension simmered below the surface. All three at the table knew that the basis of the tension had less to do with the current situation and more to do with the reason the two had broken up in the first place. It had by no means been an amicable split.  
If the situation hadn’t been depressing enough, since the dinner was a benefit for Human Rights Watch, each course came with a description of a current human rights issue the organization was trying to bring attention to. Nothing says a great night out like learning about militants attacking schools and forcing children to become soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The overall atmosphere contributed to a very low level of conversation at the table.  
Having paid in advance, after finishing the last course, Laura and Laf got up to leave. Danny grabbed Laura’s elbow, holding her back.  
“Hey, can we talk?”  
Laura looked at Lafontaine and nodded so they wandered off to see if the service had calmed down enough that they could tell Perry how delicious everything had been. Danny and Laura wandered outside. Once they got outside, Danny stood there shuffling her feet.  
“Alright Danny, you are the one who wanted to talk so talk.” Laura said guardedly, her arms crossed over her chest.  
“Look Laura, I know you were upset with me and you were right to be. Looking back I get that I got a bit overprotective...”  
“Danny, I didn’t break up with you because you were overprotective. My dad is over protective. I’m used to it at this point. I broke up with you because you felt that I was weak and needed protection so that gave you the right to make decisions for me. I am a human being Danny! I get to make my own decisions whether they are dangerous or not. I have the right to decide if the risks are worth it. Not you. We broke up because you didn’t understand that you were trying to control my life. And judging from what you just said you still don’t.”  
After her speech Laura stalked off. She was glad she had left the book she was reading in the grad lounge because the last thing she wanted to do was go back to her apartment and wallow in the end of her last relationship. She shot off a quick text to Laf letting her know where she was going and headed back to campus.  
Laura was so distracted by her anger that when she got to the study room she didn’t notice the noises coming from behind the door. Upon opening the door, Laura was faced with a blonde shoved onto a desk with Carmilla’s tongue down her throat. It took the two a second to realize that they were no longer alone in the room, but when they did they broke apart. Laura glared directly at the blonde on the desk.  
“Get out!” she spat.  
The blonde looked at Carmilla, who shrugged indifferently, before she stood up and walked out of the room. Carmilla for her part simply sat down at the desk and pulled out Hobbes’ Leviathan and began reading.  
“What in the name of Hufflepuff were you doing?”  
“Relax, cupcake, we were studying.” Carmilla replied calmly with a hint of exasperation in her voice.  
“Well in the future, please don’t bring your ‘study buddies’ to the grad lounge. I know you sleep here, but that doesn’t make this your apartment.” Laura responded, her voice containing all her anger that had developed through the course of the night.  
Laura sat down at her desk and focused on her reading for IR theory, but not before noticing the wicked smirk on Carmilla’s face that told her the blonde would not be the last study buddy she kicked out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do know why Laura and Danny broke up. I had originally intended for that to be in this chapter but when I actually wrote it, it just never came up. I will at some point come back to it. I'm not sure yet when though.
> 
> Also, the human rights issue that I brought up is in fact something that Human Rights Watch is monitoring. If you happen to be interested their website is this: https://www.hrw.org. I will probably bring up a couple of other issues since Laura is focusing on human rights. If you guys don't like it let me know and I won't bring anything up in the future.
> 
> Thanks again to everyone!
> 
> Hope you guys like this chapter. It is certainly my favorite so far.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura and Carmilla clash in the grad lounge in a series of encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really I just felt there hadn't been enough interactions between the two up to this point.

The same dynamic played itself out for the next six weeks. During the week, Laura stole a chair from Carmilla’s makeshift bed and on Fridays, Laura would return to the grad lounge after hanging out with LaFontaine (often at Perry’s restaurant) to kick out what ever “study buddy” happened to be over that week.

“Where do you even find these women?” Laura queried, exasperated.

“I don’t find them, cupcake. They find me.”

Laura made a face at Carmilla’s arrogance and disregard for others.

“That bunched up face you make when you’re angry is hilarious, buttercup.”

Laura huffed and went back to her reading. Carmilla chuckled softly before picking up Waltz’s Theory of International Politics.  
____________

The following Tuesday Laura walked into the study room and for once it was empty. Carmilla’s “bed” was intact in the middle of the room, but she wasn’t in it. Laura stole two chairs, wheeling one to her desk and another one to the desk next to it.

Laf had come with her because they had gotten into a slight altercation with another member of their department and just wanted a day to get some work done in quiet before having to deal with it.

“I thought the broody one was always around.” Laf commented. “You know if you want I could take some minimally invasive hair and blood samples. There is a lot you can learn that way and there might be a medical cause for her lethargy and moodiness.”

As they finished saying this, they pulled out a very intimidating syringe and held it up. If she hadn’t roomed with them in college it might have startled her, but at this point, Laura was shockingly used to it. Laura just sighed.

“Laf, we can’t do something like that. It’s completely disregarding anything like interpersonal boundaries.” Laura lectured.

LaFontaine visibly deflated and mumbled, “Fine.”

Laura patted them on the shoulder before turning to her reading.

A couple of minutes later the door opened and Carmilla walked in, dropping her bag on the ground. Laura noticed that it must have been raining because Carmilla’s shirt was wet.

“You must be Carmilla,” Laf said, trying to suss out whether the girl was as anti-social as Laura had claimed.

“Must I be?” Carmilla responded haughtily as she took off her shirt before pulling one out of her backpack and putting it on.

Both Laura and Laf could not help staring until the dry shirt made it on. Carmilla got under Laura’s skin every time they interacted, but once again Laura could not help but notice how painfully attractive Carmilla was. Luckily Carmilla wasn’t particularly paying attention to them and both managed to tear their eyes away before Carmilla could notice and smirk at them.  
\---------------

Later that night Laf and Laura were both back in their apartment. Laf cornered Laura.

“So, L, don’t you think you forgot to mention something extremely important?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” but Laura had never been particularly good at lying.

“Oh come on, you can’t tell me you haven’t noticed how drop-dead gorgeous your lounge mate is.”

“Umm…well…I mean…” Laura flustered. “It doesn’t matter because she is a raging b…ad person.”

Laf just chuckled.  
\---------------

The next day Laura was sitting in her pedagogy class, but she couldn’t focus on what the class was discussing. Their reading had been the student handbook. She was vaguely aware that the main focus had settled on improper interactions with undergrads. Laura realized that this was probably important and did take a mental note of the teacher’s warning against TAs closing their doors when meeting with students.

However, all Laura could think about was Carmilla switching shirts the previous day. Despite unsuccessfully attempting to play it off with Laf, Laura had definitely noticed how attractive Carmilla was even before she had caught sight of Carmilla’s toned abs the previous day. It was a sight that had not left her head.

Her professor broke through her thoughts by passionately warning them to not only avoid relationships with their undergraduate students, but also not to drink with them or even really hang out with them lest accusations be made that ruined their careers. “For now, think of it this way: undergrads are poison,” she emphasized.  
\----------

After class Laura wandered into the grad lounge and was reminded yet again of why it didn’t matter how attractive Carmilla was. Littered across the room were the remnants and empty containers from Carmilla’s lunch. On top of the trash from the food, there were papers strewn all over the place. It looked like Carmilla had just dumped her backpack all over the floor. Laura had gotten used to a level of mess in the room, but it had never been this bad. She was pretty sure a tornado tearing through the room couldn’t have made more of a mess.

Laura looked at the sleeping Carmilla and seriously considered strangling the woman. However, Laura was a human rights advocate. As much as she would like to argue that a human could not be this messy, Carmilla was, in fact, human. Therefore, killing her would be against everything Laura believed in.

“Oh my god, Carmilla! There is a trashcan not two feet away from you! Are you that lazy that you can’t lean over to drop your trash in there instead of leaving it on the floor!” Laura raged.

“Well, the trash can is just as close to you, cutie. Throw it away yourself, if it bothers you that much,” Carmilla retorted before dropping her head back onto her arms and falling back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like always I hope you guys like this chapter.
> 
> Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reading for Laura and Carmilla's theory class leads the two to clash over the nature of the world and humanity. Laura refuses to give up her inherent optimism despite Carmilla's antagonism.

Laura let her head fall onto her keyboard. She had already read Thucydides’ “The Melian Dialogue” and portions of Hobbes’ Leviathan. She was about to start Morgenthau’s Politics Among Nations, but was already depressed enough from reading the other two so she wandered out of her room instead. LaFontaine was sitting down on the couch pretending to do their work when they were really just watching Perry bake.

“Perry, how is it that you can spend all day, six days a week in a professional kitchen cooking and then on your one day off, you can still stand to be in the kitchen? I mean don’t get me wrong, your baking obsession pairs nicely with my sugar addiction, and I don’t want you to stop, but isn’t it a little much?”

Before Perry could answer Laura, Laf spoke up.

“Hey L, what was the issue in Burundi you were talking about the other day?”

“What’s happening in Burundi you ask? Well, dear roommates,” Laura started as if she was speaking to a much larger audience, “Burundian citizens are disappearing. They are being arrested by the government and loved ones can’t gain access to or contact them in any way. Many are presumed dead at this point. Others have been subject to violent debilitating attacks. The people are being targeted because they are perceived to be in opposition to the government.”

Laf started chuckling.

“This is not a laughing matter, LaFontaine!” Laura snapped, as she was now fired up on the topic.

“Whoa, Laur, I would never say that it is. I’m laughing because you asked how Perry can spend her day off in the kitchen but you came out here for a break from your grad schoolwork, and, with very little prompting, started talking about the very stuff you study. Not to mention when I went out to dinner with you and some of your friends from your department, two of you got drunk, the guy pulled the table over saying he was taking it over because no one could stop him, and you shouted ‘the anarchy of the international system!’ Or what about that party we went to where you spent a good half hour talking with someone about the current state of Rwanda so you could see if international trials had had an impact on repairing the social relations.”

Laura’s mouth opened and closed again. “Oh,” was all that came out as she realized she literally spent almost 24/7 thinking about her area of study.

Instead of trying to make an argument she knew wouldn’t work, she walked into the kitchen and tried to swipe some of the brownie batter being mixed. Perry swatted at her hand before she could get any.

“Laura, that is unsanitary. Besides, there is raw egg in there and you don’t want to get sick,” Perry scolded her in a motherly tone.

“Oh come on, Perry, people eat batter all the time and how many people have you heard of who have died from it?”

“There are warnings against it for a reason. Just because I haven’t heard of a specific case doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.”

Laura sighed, realizing she wasn’t going to win the debate.

“Fine. I just really needed a pick me up. Realism is such a depressing theory.”

“Well, the brownies should be done in about 15 minutes so you don’t have to wait that long,” Perry said with an air of finality to the conversation.

“Hey, since you need a break from the depressing nature of the world…”

“It is not the nature of the world! It is some people’s opinion of the nature of the world.”

“Right.” Laf stated, hoping to avoid a debate about a topic they really didn’t know anything about. “Anyway, wanna watch some bad sci-fi to get your mind off it?”

Laura cracked a smile for the first time since walking out of her room. Watching cheesy sci-fi movies had been something she and Laf had started doing in college one weekend when Laura had been fighting with Danny and Laf had been fighting with Perry and they had both needed to escape from the realities of the world.

Laura plopped herself down on the chair next to the couch while Laf picked out the movie Eight Legged Freaks and hit play. About 15 minutes later, Perry brought over a plate with brownies and sat down next to Laf and leaned her head on their shoulder. Laura picked up a brownie, happy for the moment to forget about the disagreement she had with the most powerful paradigm in her discipline. Instead, she got lost in a plot line of attacking mutant spiders and cheesy dialogue.

¬¬¬¬-------------------

Laura’s break couldn’t last forever and the next day she was in the grad lounge working on her Morgenthau reading. After finishing her reading, she started grumbling at her readings and the other ones they had to do for class on Monday.

“What is that I hear you grumbling about Morgenthau, cutie?”

“His theory is ridiculous. It does not reflect the way the world really works. Power isn’t an end as well as a means in international politics. Side note: you can’t really make an argument that power is the influencing factor of politics then say the only interactions that are political are those interactions that have to do with power considerations. None of this is true because politics isn’t driven by a human nature that is only concerned with material gain, defense, and glory. There is more to politics than that! There is more to humanity than that! Norms have an impact! Trust has an impact! Human rights are changing the way states interact with each other and their citizens.”

“Do you really think human rights norms do a lick of actual good? Do states act any differently than they did before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? You’re a child and you understand nothing; not about life, not about human nature, and certainly not about what it takes for states to survive in a world that…you know what, the sooner you stop playing Kathryn Sikkink, the better off you’ll be.”

“No,” Laura responded defiant.

“What?”

“No, I’m not just going to accept a realist world. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am a child. A 23 year old who grew up in the west where human rights were championed…at least rhetorically. Who believes that humans can learn from their mistakes. Who doesn’t believe that ‘the strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must.’ Well, it turns out the world doesn’t work exactly as I thought it was going to. The world swears never again then allows genocide to take place in Rwanda and the Sudan and even trials and truth telling processes don’t solve the problem in Rwanda. So, maybe that seems like the way it is, but it doesn’t mean that I have to reject humanity’s capacity to improve the world. I deserve better. The citizens of Burundi deserve better. Hell, even you deserve better.”

After her rant Laura turned back to her computer so she missed the look of shock and disbelief that had passed over Carmilla’s face because of the last sentence. Therefore, she didn’t realize the impact her words had made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for reading!
> 
> Unlike Lois Lane there are no famous female international relations theorists fictional or non-fictional. So I picked one of my favorite scholars: Kathryn Sikkink. She is a theorist but also spends a lot of time focusing on human rights and human rights trials.
> 
> I doubt any of you care but, this chapter has the basis for where I got the title from. The international relations theory that is being discussed here is realism which basically says that states go to war because that is human nature and it is never going to change. There are multiple variations of this but they all are derived in some sense from this basis. Carmilla falls into the realist camp. Some of the dialogue in this chapter hints at Laura's theoretical underpinnings which believe that the world is socially constructed and and that rules and normative expectations have an affect on the world. The theory is called constructivism hence the construct of realism.
> 
>  
> 
> I apologize but the academic in me is making me cite my sources.  
> The concepts of human nature come from Hobbes, Thomas, "Leviathan."  
> The strong do what they will quote. Thucydides, "The Melian Dialogue," The Peloponnesian War.  
> All the other realism talk comes from Morgenthau, Hans, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace (Knopf: New York, 1967).


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla's behavior towards Laura starts to change and with that, a friendship between the two starts to develop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me a while to post this. I normally get the chapters edited and I was waiting on that but my editor has a lot going on so I decided to just post this. I apologize if there are any grammatical errors; commas have never been my strong suit.

Things changed slowly after that, so slowly that Laura didn’t notice it at first. That Monday in class when they were discussing classical realism, Carmilla sat next to her. A few days later, Laura walked into the grad lounge to find Carmilla curled up on the chairs as normal, but her chair was sitting at her desk. Next, Carmilla tried to stop making so much noise when she woke up (she still made a lot of noise, but it was obvious she was trying). Laura finally realized the change in behavior when she came back on Friday from her normal dinner with Laf and there was no study buddy in the grad lounge.

“Are you feeling okay?” She blurted out confused by the circumstances.

Carmilla raised one eyebrow. “I’m feeling fine, cupcake, why do you ask?”

Laura turned bright red. “Oh…well I…umm…well…normally you…There’s no…”

“You know as a Ph.D. student, you’re suppose to be able to form sentences, cutie,” Carmilla quipped, humor in her eyes.

Laura knew Laf would be able to tell her if it were possible to blush more when she was sure she already looked like a tomato, but she felt herself get even redder. Rather than respond, she sat down pulling out her laptop hoping her reading could help her ignore the smirking goddess behind her who, for once, she had no reason to be furious at.  
\------------------

A few days later Laura was in the grad lounge taking a break from studying by scrolling through Facebook when a message popped up. Laura groaned extremely loudly.

“Groan any louder and you are going to make the walls shake, buttercup.”

“Sorry, sorry. My ex just messaged me over Facebook. Today is…well would have been our anniversary.”

“Sounds like it ended less than amicably.”

Laura chuckled slightly. “It ended with me screaming at her.”

“Hmm, who would have thought, you yelling at someone.”

Laura flushed and bunched up her face in annoyance. Her mouth opened to retort but Carmilla responded before she could.

“I’m kidding, cutie.”

“You know, I’m not even upset that it’s over. I mean we dated for almost three and a half years and I feel like I should miss her or something, but I when I see her or she texts me all I feel is angry at her.”

“What happened?”

“She is a year older than I am so she graduated and went off to grad school. We handled long distance pretty well, but it sent the overprotective streak she already had into overdrive. And trust me if I’m saying it was in overdrive, it must have been bad because I grew up with my father who is the most overprotective parent on the planet. He sends me day of the week bear spray. At one point I had so much Laf grabbed a bag and ran off into the small woods near campus screaming they were going to invade a bear sanctuary. So if I was struggling to put up with her overprotectiveness that means something. Everything kinda culminated in when I got my acceptances to grad school. When I was deciding where to go , this school was my top choice. So one night, I was discussing it with her and she told me I couldn’t go here because she couldn’t keep me safe. She said it in a way that meant I was too dumb or too weak to know what I can and can’t handle so I needed some big strong grown up to take care of me. My dad for all his overprotectiveness always realized it was my life and they were my decisions to make. Danny never saw that. I wasn’t going to let someone control my life like that.”

“Shit, cupcake.”

“Sorry…again. I don’t mean to burden you with this.”

“Hey I asked. And besides I wouldn’t want to you keep everything bottled up to the point where you explode and start throwing things. I don’t want you to break my computer.”

“Oh, right, of course.” Laura said looking back down at her computer.

A couple of minutes later, Laura heard another beep indicating she had another Facebook message.

**Danny Lawrence** : Who the HELL is this Carmilla Karnstein girl?

“Um…Carm, how does Danny know who you are?” Laura asked confused, not realizing she had used a nickname.

“How would I know, cutie?”

Laura rolled her chair over to Carmilla, shoving her away from her computer. She managed to click on the tab for Facebook and read a portion of the message before Carmilla shoved her away and resettled herself in front of her computer.

“Wow…that was spectacularly violent.”

Carmilla just raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

“How did you find her anyway?”

“You mentioned the name Danny. I searched your friends. It really wasn’t that difficult.”

“Oh, right” Laura said slightly disturbed at how easy it was to find someone you didn’t know from just a first name.

Carmilla clicked on a photo of Laura and Danny. Laura blushed.

“Did you have to stand on a step stool to kiss her?”

“Hey! You are only like an inch taller than me!” Laura yelled back angered at the jab about her height.

“No need to et all offended, cupcake. I was refereeing to the fact that she is freakishly tall. I mean did someone feed her miracle grow as a child or something?”

Laura giggled. “It was kinda…difficult at times.”

“Difficult? It looks like you would get a cramp in your neck every time you had a conversation with her…unless, you didn’t spend that much time talking.” She smirked at the last part.

Laura blushed furiously and went back to her own computer.

\----------------

A couple of days later Laura walked into the grad lounge and noticed it was freezing. She was about to leave the room when she noticed Carmilla was shivering in her sleep. Laura left the room to go to her locker. As she walked back in she pulled on an oversized sweatshirt. She took the blanket she had also gotten from her locker and unfolded it so she could drape it over Carmilla’s sleeping form. Carmilla shifted in her sleep, pulling the blanket closer around herself. Laura stared at the sleeping girl thinking about the message Carmilla has sent Danny the other day and knew she had misjudged the girl. She went back to her desk, set up her computer, and got to work.

She had stayed up most of the previous night working on a paper she had turned in earlier that day. Despite the copious amounts of coffee (well coffee flavored sugar) she had consumed, she couldn’t stop her eyes from getting heavy and closing. She really tried to stay awake, but somewhere along the line lost the battle.

Laura woke up and didn’t really know how long she had been asleep. She raised her hand off the desk and rubbed her eyes. When she was a little more awake, she realized her blanket was now draped over her own shoulders. She looked around the room and realized Carmilla was no longer in the room. Laura stood up and stretched before sitting back down to finish her work for the next day.

\----------------

The next evening, Laura was doing work for her political economy class when her stomach grumbled. She scrolled down the article she was reading and decided to take a break now rather than waiting to finish the article. She turned to Carmilla.

“I’m going to Starbuck. Do you want anything?”

Carmilla looked up from her reading.

“Actually, cupcake, I might come with you these Wendtian constructivist readings are giving me a headache.”

Laura decided not to respond to the insult that was directed against her own theoretical leanings. They wandered through campus. They didn’t do much talking but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. Carmilla noticed that when Laura walked, it was seemed less like walking and more like bouncing along. When they got to Starbucks, Laura got two cookies and a grande frappuccino. Carmilla for her part got a black coffee. On their way back to the grad lounge, they heard drums. Laura shot Carmilla a confused look, but she merely responded with a shrug not knowing what was going on either.

“Come on. Let’s go figure out what’s going on,” Laura said lighting up at the possibility of discovering new.

Carmilla debated which was worse: going back to her reading or following the tiny ball of energy around. She sighed; she really hated constructivism…and maybe she wasn’t really all that annoyed by the energizer bunny in human form.

When they discovered the source of the sound, Carmilla regretted her decision. They had wandered into the middle of some sort of athletic pep rally thing.

“Oh god. I’m leaving,” Carmilla stated with disgust in her voice.

“Oh, come on. Where is your school spirit?”

“Go Panthers,” She responded sarcastically.

Laura sighed. “Fine. I guess I should get back to my reading anyway.” 

She munched down on a cookie angrily and turned around marching back to the grad lounge ignoring Carmilla on the way back. Carmilla sighed.  
\----------------

Laura was normally the first one to their theory class but this morning, Carmilla was there before her. It was particularly abnormal since she normally barely showed up before their professor who had developed a habit of showing up 10 min late for class.

“Morning, cutie,” Carmilla chirped a smirk on her face as Laura sat down next to her.

“Wow, I’m impressed Carm. You are on time for once.”

“Well, cupcake, I decided to take our professor’s advice,” She said reaching into her backpack and pulling out a flask.

“Carm,” Laura started apprehensive. “What is in there?”

“Orange juice." Carmilla responded giving Laura an incredulous look. "Come on cupcake what do you think is here. It’s Tequila.”

“Carm! We can’t drink in our classroom right before class!”

“What? If I’m not mistaken our professor said last class that discussing constructivism is better after drinking some tequila.”

Carmilla slowly started to unscrew the top on the flask.

“No!” Laura hissed. “We cannot drink in a classroom! They will find out! And the professor will know we are drunk and fail us!”

Carmilla contemplated continuing to argue but the look of complete terror in Laura’s eyes convinced her to stop. She put the flask back into her bag sighing.

“Fine, but you will have to make it up to me by drinking tequila and discussing constructivism at a later date,” Carmilla said wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Laura may have been used to Carmilla’s flirting at this point but that didn’t mean it didn’t affect her so to play it off she laughed and punched Carmilla’s shoulder lightly. She hoped this would prevent Carmilla from noticing just how much the idea appealed to her.  
\----------------

Later that afternoon, Laura was packing up her stuff to go home. As she was about to leave, she turned to Carmilla and cleared her throat to get Carmilla’s attention.

“So um…recently we have kind of become…friends? Maybe…and well I was wondering if in all this new found closeness maybe you would want to come to my birthday party on Wednesday. I know that’s kind of a random day, especially since my birthday is Friday, but it’s the only day my friend, Perry, has off work at night. I realize you might have too much work, but I thought I would see if you wanted to come…”

Carmilla looked up at her with the hint of a smile on her lips.

“I think I might like that very much.”

“Okay…awesome, bye,” Laura said tripping over her chair as she hastened out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked this chapter. I have started chapter 7 and its ending up longer than I thought it would be but hopefully it will be up soon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura gets a surprise at her birthday party. On Laura's actual birthday, Carmilla refuses to let a lack of plans prevent Laura from having a great time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long. The chapter is really long and that is why it took so long to write. 
> 
> There is so much fluff in this chapter it is a tiny bit disgusting.
> 
> Side note, Kirsch decided to randomly show up.

When Wednesday rolled around, Laura was darting back and forth across her apartment trying to make sure it was clean.

“Relax, L, first off, you know Perry wouldn’t let this place be anything less than immaculate. Why are you even worried? I mean there are only going to be five of us tonight.”

“I know, I know.”

Laura couldn’t exactly explain why it mattered so much, but she really didn’t want Carmilla thinking poorly of her apartment.

“I mean I know you invited someone from your program, but I mean that’s no reason to be so OCD. Unless…” Laf turned to look at Laura, their eyes demanding answers.

Laura froze barely breathing.

“Laura, who did you invite?”

At first Laf hadn’t been suspicious when Laura had just told them she invited someone from her department to the party, but now it didn’t seem as innocent.

“I just invited Carmilla,” She said trying to play it off, but refused to look at Lafontaine.

“But I thought you hated her?”

“I did, but well, I think she is different than I thought.”

“Well that is good. It is always good to give people a second chance. First impressions aren’t always accurate and it’s always nice to make new friends,” Perry’s voice spoke from the kitchen.

“Yeah. Friends,” Laf said, giving Laura a look that said she understood way more than Laura wanted her too, especially since Laura wasn’t 100% sure how she felt about the situation herself.

Trying to distract all of them from the conversation topic, she spoke up.

“Hey, Perry, is there anything I can do to help you?”

“No offense, honey, but even if you didn’t burn Easy Mac, I wouldn’t allow you in the kitchen tonight. It is your party so you are not going to do a thing.”

“It was one time. One Time! And I hadn’t slept in almost 36 hours!” Laura huffed. The two of them would not let her forget about the time she forgot to put the water in while making Easy Mac.

“Besides, L, this party is our present to you, which means you can’t be here so that there is some level of surprise for you.”

“But I will need to get ready,” Laura whined.

Laf almost made a comment about why Laura would be so worried about looking good but decided against antagonizing her anymore.

“Well, you have two choices: you can leave and come back when we say, or you can chill in your room.”

Laura sighed but dragged herself back to her room.

\-------------

A couple of hours later, Laura heard a knock at the door. She knew it was too early for Carmilla to show up, but that didn’t stop her heart from nearly jumping out of her chest. She calmed down when she heard the new arrival speaking to her friends outside. Pretty soon she heard a knock at her own door. She opened it to a giant who enveloped her in a hug, picking her up off the ground before she could get a word out.

“Hey, little L! How is grad school life treating you?”

“It’s good Kirsch. It’s a lot of work, but I really love it!”

“Are there any hotties in the picture?”

Laura sighed. Most people thought Kirsch was dumb when they first met him, but he was more perceptive than people gave him credit for and she knew if she tried to say anything he would read her easily.

“Kirsch, what have we talked about when it comes to describing women as hotties?”

By the time they had graduated college, Laura had almost eliminated the word from his vocabulary. It appeared that it had crept back in in the months she hadn’t seen him.

“Oops, sorry, L.” Kirsch looked like a kicked puppy for a second before a massive grin broke out on his face. “Wait, you didn’t answer my question! Does that mean there is a ho…girl?”

Laura was debating how to respond to him when she glanced at the clock and noticed the time.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” Laura chanted.

Without bothering to say anything to Kirsch, she ran out of the room and took a quick shower before rushing back into her room. Kirsch was sitting on the bed with his hands firmly clamped over his eyes. She pulled on some sweats and a t-shirt.

“I have clothes on Kirsch. You can open your eyes. I’m going to need your help figuring out what to wear.”

Kirsch spread his fingers and opened one eye, peaking out cautiously before dropping his hands and opening his other eye. Laura rolled her eyes at him not trusting her before she started raiding her closet, pulling out things and holding them up before discarding them before Kirsch could say anything.

“So, what’s her name?” Kirsch asked.

Laura contemplated lying but knew if she did, Kirsch might figure it out in the middle of the evening and say something extremely embarrassing. Kirsch often talks before he thinks.

“Carmilla, and she is going to be here tonight so please, please, please, please, pleeeaase do not say anything.”

“I got you, little L.”

“Thanks, Kirsch,” she said with a small smile before huffing and throwing herself down on her bed. “I have nothing to wear.”

Kirsch stood up and sifted through the pile of clothes that Laura had discarded on the bed. He picked out a pair of royal blue skinny jeans and a nicer, form fitting tank top that had different shades of grey mixing together. He then shifted over to her dresser and grabbed a pair of gold leaf earrings and a simple gold chain with a skeleton key charm dangling from it. Solving outfit crises had been a talent he’d picked up when his older sister was in high school and he had found he was surprisingly good at it.

He walked over to Laura and put the outfit on her stomach. She pulled her arm away from her eyes and picked up her head. Upon seeing what Kirsch had picked out, a smile spread across her face.

“Thanks, Kirsch!”

Kirsch simply nodded and left the room so Laura could get ready.

She had just finished getting ready when she heard a knock on her door and Laf telling her she was allowed out of her room. As she walked into the small living area, her mouth fell open. The area was completely transformed. Laf and Perry (Laura assumed it was probably mostly Laf as Perry had clearly spent most of the afternoon cooking) had somehow managed to make the room look like the inside of the Tardis. Laura bounced up and down and squealed.

“I love it so much! Thank you guys!” Laura exclaimed, hugging both Laf and Perry in turn.

Just then there was a knock at the door, and Laura dashed over throwing the door open.

“Hey, cupcake,” Carmilla smirked.

“Hey, Carm! Come in.” 

Laura stepped aside so Carmilla could enter the apartment. Laura couldn’t help but stare at Carmilla. She was wearing black jeans and a red and black plaid shirt with maybe one too many buttons unbuttoned at the top. Carmilla meanwhile briefly surveyed the apartment.

“Seriously, cutie? Does your apartment always look like the Tardis? I didn’t realize you were that much of a dork,” Carmilla teased jokingly.

“Hey! Laf and Perry spent a lot of time doing that for my birthday and…wait if you recognize that quickly that they decorated it to be the inside of the Tardis, that makes you just as much of a dork as me,” Laura argued, the look on her face triumphant.

Carmilla’s mouth opened slightly, the look on her face giving away that she had been caught. “Whatever,” she said trying to put as much snark into the single word as possible.

Laura merely giggled in response, grabbing her hand and pulling her further into the apartment.

“So you already know, or well you met but were never properly introduced to LaFontaine and this is Kirsch and Perry is in the kitchen. Everyone, this is Carmilla.”

“Hey, Carmsexy,” Kirsch greeted the new girl.

“Call me that again beefcake and…” Carmilla trailed off when she saw the glare Laura was shooting her. She sighed. “Don’t call me that again.”

Kirsch’s smile had faltered when Carmilla started talking, but was back in full force by the time she had finished.

“Okay, sorry little C.”

Carmilla thought of threatening him over the new nickname, but realized this was probably going to be the best she was going to get.

“Welcome to our apartment,” came a voice drifting out of the kitchen.

Carmilla turned toward the voice, but found her vision obstructed by a two foot conical…thing.

“Um…cutie, why do you have a Christmas tree made out of dinner rolls sitting on your counter?”

Laura giggled.

“It’s not a Christmas tree. It’s a croquembouche and it’s made from profiteroles not rolls,” the voice corrected.

Carmilla leaned over until she could whisper in Laura’s ear. “In English?”

Carmilla’s voice sent shivers down Laura’s spine. With a shaky intake of breath, Laura responded.

“It’s a giant tower of creampuffs held together by caramel. It’s one of my favorite deserts.”

“So not a cupcake girl then?”

“Oh no, I love those too. I just don’t get a croquembouche all that often.”

“Did Betty Crocker make it?”

“No, she is making all of the food for tonight so she convinced the pastry chef at the restaurant she works to make it.”

There was a loud crash behind them. Carmilla saw a curly redhead poke her head out of the kitchen before she turned around to see what had caused the noise.

“LaFontaine!”

LaFontaine and Kirsch both froze, the remnants of a broken plate lying between them. A beat later Laf’s arm shot out, pointing at Kirsch.

“It was his idea.”

“Sorry, Perry, but it just seemed like it would make a good Frisbee.”

Perry walked over to the closet and pulled out the broom and dustpan. She handed it off to LaFontaine and Kirsch.

“Clean this up. I have to finish the risotto. Once it’s clean, sit down at the table.”

A couple of minutes later they were all sitting at the table eating an appetizer of lobster risotto. The conversation had somehow turned to Laura’s embarrassing drunk stories from college. Laf and Kirsch dominated the conversation with Carmilla teasing Laura about particularly embarrassing details. Lara’s face stayed bright red for the entirety of the time they were eating the appetizer. After Perry brought out the main course of quail over pureed potato with a red wine glaze, Carmilla became quiet, but Laura assumed it had to do with what they were discussing. The conversation had shifted to discussing the research Laf was doing on the behavior of brain cells in subjects with certain diseases. Laura was glad for the reprieve, but found she was missing the comments Carmilla had been adding.

When they finished dinner, Perry forced Laf and Kirsch to help her clean up as punishment, but refused to let the other two help as it was Laura’s party and Carmilla was a guest. So Laura and Carmilla ended up sitting on the couch.

“You must be difficult to impress on a first date, cutie,” Carmilla commented, keeping her voice carefully emotionless.

“What? Why do you say that?”

“You get a fine dining experience at home. Any restaurant a girl takes you to must seem like a letdown in comparison, and forget about cooking for you.”

Laura giggled and grabbed Carmilla’s hand and pulled the other woman into her bedroom.

“This is a little bit fast don’t you think, cupcake?”

“Oh, shush,” Laura replied, smacking her arm gently.

Laura walked over to her dresser and pulled open a drawer that was filled with ramen and packaged cookies.

“This is what I eat most nights. I keep it in here because Perry considers it blasphemous and would throw it out, but I really can’t cook anything else. So trust me, I do not normally eat fine dining food.”

“Well I can beat ramen,” Carmilla said before her brain could realize she decided to talk.

Laura’s mouth dropped open and Carmilla froze. Slowly, Laura’s mouth quirked up into a smirk.

“Carmilla Karenstein, are you asking me out?”

“Um…I…” Carmilla stuttered, shocked by the turn in the conversation.

“You know as a Ph.D. student, you’re supposed to be able to form sentences, cutie,” Laura said, echoing words Carmilla had said to her.

Carmilla took a deep breath.

“Laura Hollis, would you like to go on a date with me?” Carmilla asked, vulnerability showing in her eyes.

“Of course, Carm.”

“How about Saturday night?” She asked, not up to the pressure of having their first date be on Laura’s birthday.

“Sounds perfect.”

From the living area, Perry called the two of them out for dessert.

\------------

Laura spent the entirety of Thursday locked in her room so the next time she saw Carmilla was that Friday. Laura was trying to get some of her reading done for class that Monday when Carmilla walked in.

“Doing homework on your birthday, cupcake? Aren’t you dedicated.”

“Somehow I doubt Dr. Dairn is going to let me use that as an excuse for not getting the reading done,” Laura responded her face breaking into a smile at Carmilla’s presence.

Carmilla hummed in agreement. “Hanging out with the bio nerd tonight?”

“Not this week. Their parents are in town so they are spending time with them. Laf invited me to go with them, but they haven’t gotten to see their parents in a long time so I decided to let them all spend some time together.”

“What are you doing tonight then?” Carmilla asked her eyebrows knitting together in concern.

“I was just planning on heading home a little early and watching old Veronica Mars episodes and eating the leftover creampuffs I have.”

“Seriously, cupcake? It’s your birthday, you can’t just go back to an empty apartment to watch reruns by yourself,” Carmilla responded as if the concept personally offended her. “We are going out.”

“Carm, seriously, you don’t have to do that. We are going out tomorrow night and, honestly, it will be better than how I spent a lot of my birthdays. It had always kind of been a non-event until I met Laf and they started making a big deal out of it.”

Carmilla’s expression deepened into a full on scowl. Laura hadn’t talked much about her family other than to say her father was massively overprotective, but something seemed out of place with the information. Carmilla also didn’t miss the fact that Laura now had a look on her face that indicated her mind was no longer in the room. Carmilla didn’t feel it was her place to ask, but the look was so out of place on Laura’s face, and that bothered her more than she would care to admit. Carmilla wanted the look gone, so she decided to just keep on being herself.

“Well, cutie, your fortunes are about to turn because you are going to get the Carmilla Karenstein birthday experience.”

Carmilla internally sighed in relief when Laura’s eyes focused back on the present and the edges of her mouth quirked up.

“Is that anything like the study buddy experience?” Laura asked with teasing sarcasm.

“Oh no, it’s much better than the study buddy experience,” Carmilla responded with a sultry tone and her best seduction eyes.

Laura had to mentally remind herself to breath. She was glad she was sitting down so her knees didn’t give out underneath her. 

“And what does this experience entail?” Laura tried and failed to replicate Carmilla’s tone.

Carmilla bit back a laugh and checked the clock on her computer. It was three so it was too early to go to dinner, but Carmilla decided Laura needed to get out of that study room immediately.

“Well, the first thing we do is get you away from homework.”

Carmilla dragged Laura out of the room and made her leave her laptop and backpack in her locker before wandering out of the building. She hadn’t really thought past getting out of the grad lounge so thinking on the fly, she decided to start off with something she knew would make Laura happy. She led them to Starbucks and bought Laura a chocolate chip cookie.

“Happy Birthday, cupcake,” Carmilla said as she handed Laura the cookie.

“Thanks, Carm,” she replied with a huge smile on her face. She leaned over and gave Carmilla a kiss on the cheek.

Laura was too busy stuffing the cookie into her mouth to notice the way a shy smile spread over Carmilla’s face as she looked down at the ground. Carmilla wasn’t sure what to do next, so she was glad when Laura grabbed her hand and began wandering though campus without a real destination. A comfortable silence settled between the two as they wandered around. After a couple of minutes of walking, Laura pulled them both into a little alcove on campus with a fountain and onto a bench.

“I find this place comforting. I’ve always found the sound of water calming and not many people come here so it’s always quiet,” Laura said out of nowhere.

“Didn’t take you for one who likes the quiet, cupcake.”

Laura giggled in response. “I know I talk a lot but occasionally I need the quiet too.”

“Oh so you’re not always a high strung incessant speed talker?”

Laura playfully hit Carmilla and pouted for a second before resting her head on Carmilla’s shoulder. Laura felt the tension she had been carrying in her neck and back seep away as she sat there.

A loud noise caused Laura to jolt awake.

“Oh my god,” she gushed. “I can’t believe I fell asleep on you! I’m so sorry! You were being nice and trying to give me a fun birthday and all I did was fall asleep on you and I don’t even know for how long and you were considerate and didn’t wake me up and I have no idea how long I made you just sit here and I’m so so so sorry and…”

“Buttercup, as cute as you are when you’re rambling, it’s fine. You weren’t asleep for that long and you looked like you needed it.”

“You’re sweet Carm, thank you.”

Carmilla made a noise of distaste. “I’m not sweet, I’m a heartless badass.”

Laura giggled and Carmilla couldn’t stop a small smile from forming.

“Well in that case you are a sweet heartless badass.”

“Hmph,” was Carmilla’s only response.

Laura giggled again, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone your secret.”

Carmilla grumbled again, but stood up and offered Laura a hand to help her up. Instead of letting go of Carmilla’s hand once she was standing, Laura intertwined their fingers. Laura’s nap had given Carmilla a chance to plan, so she led the way to the parking garage.

“Where are we going?” Laura asked

“It’s a surprise.”

“Seriously, Carm?!”

“Seriously, cutie.”

Laura huffed and slouched down in the passenger seat. Carmilla merely shook her head and focused on driving. A couple of minutes later they were at their destination, and Carmilla knew she had made the right decision keeping it a secret. Laura squealed and was out of the car before Carmilla could even kill the engine.

“We get to play with puppies?”

“Yep, it was too short of notice to get them delivered to campus.”

Laura squealed again and grabbed Carmilla’s hand, dragging her inside the shop. Within minutes, Laura was covered in a pile of puppies all fighting for her attention. The moment she had walked in Laura had dropped Carmilla’s hand in favor of playing with the puppies, but right now, Carmilla couldn’t find it in herself to care when she looked at the radiant smile that was plastered on Laura’s face.

\----------------

It was nearly midnight by the time Carmilla dropped Laura off at her apartment. After playing with puppies they had gotten dinner and desert before ending up at a wine bar. Laura was exhausted.

“Thanks, Carm. I had a great birthday.”

“Of course, cutie. I couldn’t just let you watch reruns alone in your apartment.”

Laura gave Carmilla a smile and threw her arms around her neck pulling her into a hug.

“Seriously, Carm. Thank you. You don’t know what it means to me to have had such a good day.”

“You’re welcome, cupcake. I will see you tomorrow. Pick you up at 6?”

“Six sounds great. See you tomorrow!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not going to lie, because of this chapter my plot line is shot to hell. At this point I know what will probably happen in the next chapter, but after that we will have to see what happens. Don't worry I will finish it.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all have enjoyed my first attempt at fan fiction. I intend for this to be multiple chapters but I don't know if I will be able to update regularly with my own life as a grad student. I will try to post somewhat frequently. Thanks! Hope you enjoyed!


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